Big chill coming for eastern Vancouver Island

Temperatures in the Cowichan Valley and much of eastern Vancouver Island are forecast to plummet between five to 10 C over the next few days.

Lisa West, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said a low pressure system is expected to slide down the B.C. coast Friday night bringing cooler temperatures and rain.

But she said the big cool down is expected to begin Saturday night and Sunday morning as an Arctic cold front moves over southern B.C. and the Island.

West said that could bring cold outflow winds through the mountain passes on the coastal mainland and across the Strait of Georgia to eastern Vancouver Island.

She said the moisture the outflow winds pick up along the way could bring flurries to sections of the Island’s east coast, including the Valley, that could result in an accumulation of up to four centimetres of snow.

“It’s expected to remain dry and cold through much of next week, with the high temperatures each day around one or two Celsius, with lows of minus five to minus seven Celsius at night,” West said.

“There is the possibility of flurries on Tuesday evening, but the forecast is for mainly dry and cold weather until the end of next week when the temperatures will go back up to between two and five Celsius during the day.”

As for the rest of the winter, West said the long-range forecast is calling for mostly cooler and wetter weather than usual until the spring in the Valley and much of eastern Vancouver Island.

“But it’s hard to say at this time whether that will result in more snow or not,” she said.